The True Power in Simple Acts of Kindness

I am just an average teenage girl, living the average life of a very busy high school student trying to survive junior year. However, I do not view the world and my relationships as an average anything. As a small child, I was always truly happy and made the absolute best out of every situation naturally. I found every excuse to smile which formed the personality and reputation I have today. Today, this great happiness and joy of life just isn't naturally there anymore. I still try to make the best out of every situation, but that's just it, I have to try at it. From my experience, as you get older, the world around you truly isn't as kind to you and, naturally, the worst is expected of people. Since rude remarks and things such as this are expected, when someone does a small random act of kindness for you, it can mean a lot. I try to do little things each day that could help someone have a better day. I think that if everyone could try to do at least one small random act of kindness each day it would make their surroundings happier, which will make them happier and kinder people. There are many random acts of kindness that can be done. One thing you could do is buy food for the people behind you if you are in a drive-through. However, random acts of kindness don't mean just giving people material things or money. I think a great thing to do is to leave pennies heads up in random places and maybe someone will find one and have a lucky day. Another thing I do to just be kind is say "Hi" to people in the hall I don't know and smile at them. Smiles are truly contagious. You could also just give out compliments to people. The thing that first started me thinking about all of this was these kindness coins I got from someone at Heritage Square. They are little plastic coins that say cute kindness sayings on them. I got mine for giving a tip to the lady at the photo shop, and then I was supposed to pass it on to someone that I saw doing something kind. I really thought this was neat and I ended up ordering more of those coins from Oriental Trading and passed them out to the student council, which I'm a part of at my school. After this, I have been noticing acts of kindness and I'm always trying to think of random acts of kindness I can pass along to others. The other day, I was with my friends at Starbucks and I mentioned that the cupcakes looked good and they agreed, but we didn't buy any. We just bought our drinks. Then when we were waiting for our drinks, the cashier asked us if we would like a cupcake and told us they were free. We said sure, but were kind of confused about it. Then the cashier told us that they actually weren't free, the man in front of us heard us say something about them and bought them for us. We told him thank you and that was the best cupcake I have ever eaten because it was a random act of kindness that was given to me. Now, I continue to notice more and more random acts of kindness given and received and I'd encourage others to do the same. I hope you will too. These small acts can make someone's day. When I see someone smile and I know that I helped them smile I feel great and brightens up my day.